Welcome to the annual showcase of dance and musical theatre from Dawson's Academy Of Dance And Stage (Bolton), presented this evening by their own Curtain Up Theatre production company. Their showcase took place on one evening only at The Albert Halls in the centre of town.
This will be the umpteenth year that I have had both the privilege and the pleasure of watching Dawn Dawson's students' hard work come to fruition. The dedication of her team is undeniable, and the energy, enthusiasm, talent, and discipline shown on stage by the students this evening was, as always, impressive.
I have to be completely honest - I know the company would want and expect nothing less of me - and say that this evening however, was just a little ragged around the edges, and did not quite live up to my, by now, extremely high expectations of this academy. There are a few reasons for this, and so please allow me to elucidate.
The first thing which struck me was the lighting design. I am uncerain of the Albert Halls' capacity, but suspect that it is capable of creating more varied effects than the few on display this evening. Many of thg dance routines were performed in semi darkness, extremities of the stage were left unlit, the design for each number was very similar with little variation throughout, many of the principals were insufficiciently lit, and the smoke machines (haze) practically ineffective and used incorrectly. This was a crying shame. Moreover, and this concerns the set not the lighting. Would it not be possible to put a black tab across the rear of the stage? Those horrific statues and gothic organ simply did not fit any of the pieces this evening, looking incongruous and pulling focus.
My second point would be the need for an MC / compere. Perhaps the children liked this, but from a professional production point of view, as good as she was, this dragged the whole show back into the realms of amateur (using the word as a negative rather than the true meaning).
With 13 items to get through in each act, this showcase was also on the long side. The academy does not boast a huge membership this year, and so it put a lot of pressure on fewer students to do more dancing and singing / acting than they would have done in previous years.
That being said however, the performances were of course up to the very high standard that one has come to expect from this company, and the discipline of the students never in question. These talented students put their hearts and souls into this evening, and it paid dividend many times over. With so many items to get through, I will not go through them all here, but instead, if you will allow me to be subjective for once, will simply highlight a few of my favourites of the evening.
So, in the order they happened on stage... I loved the young girl singing 'Castle On A Cloud' from 'Les Miserables', following this the young man who made M.Thenardier his own in a rather unique interpretation of 'Master Of The House'. The young Gavroche was also quite excellent. I enjoyed the jazz style of "A Little Party", whilst the sheer beauty of "Kiss From A Rose" was enchanting. Act 2 opened with a selection from the musical 'Seussical', which, even when performed in its entirity can be very confusing, so the cast did really well to bring forth both the story and the characters here and made this a very enjoyable section. The evening's star prize must go to a young Kent Hayward. His rendition of the old-style song-and-dance-man singing, "When I Get My Name In Lights" was simply wonderful. I would have liked to have seen him do more tap though....! Another lovely contemporary ballet piece followed, "Set Fire To The Rain". And finally, the last two dances from the '& Juliet' section were very impressive.
Many of the dances used acrobatics which worked nicely. All were choreographed with skill, making sure the demands of the dance did not exceed the students' capabilities, and creating some interesting shapes, nice picture endings and good use of the space overall. Costuming was excellent throughout, and the quality of both snging and acting very good.
Dawson's Academy take students from 3 years old, and this everning, these tiny tots took their first tentative steps on stage in front of a live audience, and of course all the parents ooed and aahed. I think they were just a little too tired though to truly concentrate on their second appearance... it was long past their bed times!!
'The Greatest Night' showcased song, dance, and musical theatre acting, and to think that the eldest on stage this evening was 18, was both inspiring and mind-bloiwing. I truly wish that I had been granted such opportunities when I was growing up, these students are so lucky!
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 15.4.24
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